Couple of funny stories (well, I think they're funny) about this movie. When I was in college they showed this movie in one of the big lecture halls. We left at about ten o'clock at night and it was foggy as anything and people were making zombie noises in the dark.
They showed this movie on a local TV station and censored it pretty drastically cutting, among other things, the scene where the kid slices up mommy with the gardening trowel. Well, on some guys last day of work, he splices that scene into the middle of the medical movie they were showing the next day. You hear, "Nurse, scalpel." and the next thing you know......
His contributions to the Horror genre really cannot be measured. There are not many people who can take credit for creating an entire genre. The original Night of the Living Dead is an unparalleled classic-- it's not only innovative on a creative and artistic level, but it uses its low budget to the best possible advantage, creating a true nightmare of a movie. Dawn of the Dead-- which I first saw in 1979 at a midnight showing, dragged there by a friend and not knowing what I was about to see-- is one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen. Not because of the scary monsters, but because of the overwhelming feeling of utter hopelessness.
